Drought stress is one of the most important abiotic stresses affecting crop growth and development, which leads to huge production and economics losses. Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) is a perennial crop with high drought tolerance that can be used in ecological management. In this study, Jerusalem artichoke seedlings under polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000-simulated drought stress were used for analysis of malonaldehyde, proline, and soluble sugar content, then the differentially expressed unigenes were identified by RNA-sequencing. A total number of 172,291 unigenes were generated from the leaves of Jerusalem artichoke and 17,612 unigenes were identified as differentially expressed unigenes. Gene Ontology enrichment showed that differential expression genes were classified in plastoglobules, photosystem II, and photosystem. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment showed that differential expression genes were mainly classified in metabolic pathways; biosynthesis of secondary metabolites; photosynthesis - antenna proteins; circadian rhythm-plant; porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism; phenylpropanoid biosynthesis; ABC transporters; flavonoid biosynthesis; carotenoid biosynthesis; stilbenoid, diarylheptanoid, and gingerol biosynthesis; cutin, suberin, and wax biosynthesis; and isoquinoline alkaloid biosynthesis. A transcription factor analysis showed that NAC, MYB, WRKY, homeobox-leucine zipper (HD-ZIP) and basic leucine-zipper (bZIP) were considered to be closely related to the response to PEG-simulated drought stress. These findings suggest that transcription factors may respond to drought stress by regulating structural genes expression level in metabolic pathways and then regulating the accumulation of related metabolites. Results obtained in this study will be helpful for cloning and analysis of drought-resistant genes of Jerusalem artichoke in the future, and also lay the foundation for the explanation of the drought resistance mechanism of Jerusalem artichoke and are helpful for the identification of drought tolerant Jerusalem artichoke varieties.

干旱胁迫是影响作物生长发育的最重要的非生物胁迫之一，会导致巨大的生产和经济损失。菊芋 ( Helianthus tuberosus)L.) 是一种耐旱性高的多年生作物，可用于生态管理。本研究以聚乙二醇(PEG) 6000 模拟干旱胁迫下的菊芋幼苗用于分析丙二醛、脯氨酸和可溶性糖含量，然后通过RNA 测序鉴定差异表达的unigene。从菊芋的叶子中总共产生了 172,291 个 unigenes，其中 17,612 个 unigenes 被鉴定为差异表达的 unigenes。基因本体富集显示差异表达基因分为质体球、光系统II和光系统。京都基因与基因组富集百科全书显示差异表达基因主要分类在代谢途径；次生代谢物的生物合成；光合作用 - 天线蛋白；昼夜节律植物；卟啉和叶绿素代谢；苯丙烷生物合成；ABC 转运体；黄酮类生物合成；类胡萝卜素生物合成；芪类、二芳基庚烷类和姜酚的生物合成；角质、木栓质和蜡生物合成；和异喹啉生物碱的生物合成。转录因子分析表明，NAC、MYB、WRKY、同源盒亮氨酸拉链( HD-ZIP ) 和基本亮氨酸拉链( bZIP)) 被认为与对 PEG 模拟的干旱胁迫的反应密切相关。这些发现表明转录因子可能通过调节代谢途径中结构基因的表达水平进而调节相关代谢物的积累来响应干旱胁迫。本研究结果将有助于今后菊芋抗旱基因的克隆和分析，也为菊芋抗旱机制的解释奠定基础，有助于菊芋耐旱的鉴定。朝鲜蓟品种。